Toxic habits: an analysis of general trends and biases in snake venom research

Biases in snake venom research have been partially identified but seldomly quantified. Using the Google Scholar web search engine, we collected a total of 267 articles published between 1964 and 2021, and reviewed them to assess the main trends in this field of study. We developed a 4-category classification of the harmful potential of each of the 298 snake species retrieved from the analysed publications, and tested whether taxonomy, realm of origin, and/or assigned hazard category could affect how often each of them appeared in the articles considered. Overall, viperids were significantly more represented than any other snake taxon retrieved. The Neotropics were the most represented biogeographic realm for number of studied species, whereas information about the country of origin of the analysed specimens was often incomplete. The vast majority of the publications focused on snake venom characterisation, whereas more ecology-related topics were rarely considered. Hazard category and biogeographic realm of origin of each species had a significant effect on the number of articles dedicated to it, suggesting that a snake’s harmful potential and place of origin influence its popularity in venom studies. Our analysis showed an overall positive trend in the number of snake venom studies published yearly, but also underlined severe neglect of snake families of supposedly minor medical relevance (e.g., Atractaspididae), underrepresentation of some of the areas most impacted by snakebite (i.e., Indomalayan and Afrotropic realms), and limited interest in the ecological and functional context of snake venom

Forecasting distributions and competitive interactions for european vipers

European vipers (Vipera) show parapatric distributions as result of distinct evolutionary trajectories and specific ecological requirements. Competitive interactions among species at range margins play an important role in the sustainment of distributional patterns. Taking into account the competition between species in a heterogeneous climate along their distribution areas, three biogeographical cases are predicted to happen: 1) autoecological segregation, when a low favorable climate is stronger than biological interactions; 2) sympatric coexistence, when an optimal climate for both species provides high abundance of resources, minimizing the effect of competitive interactions; and 3) sinecological segregation, when in sub-optimal areas, one species, better adapted to this conditions, could exclude the other by competition. Fuzzy logic distribution models provide a useful framework to analyze and identify these interactions. Using a presence/absence matrix for five western vipers (V. aspis, V. berus, V. lataste and V. seoanei) and a set of climate variables at ~10x10 km resolution, we studied species favorability for current and future climate scenarios. Regions of overlap between species pairs were analyzed to identify the three biogeographical cases in both periods of time. Results emphasize the generalist character of V. aspis, with a predicted range largest than the currently observed, and the strong competitive character of V. berus, V. latastei and V. seoanei at range margins, which might be limiting the expansion of the former species. Despite a high uncertainty in our predictions, future favorable areas are restricted to coastal and mountain regions, which is translated into important changes in species interactions.Beca FPU Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Teeth number variation and cranial morphology within Vipera aspis group

n/

Modelos de lógica difusa en el estudio de interacciones bióticas y su efecto en la distribución parapátrica de las víboras de la Península Ibérica

Las condiciones ambientales tienen una fuerte influencia en el resultado de las interacciones interespecíficas que condicionan la distribución de las especies a lo largo de un territorio. En ausencia de barreras geográficas, la parapatría de especies ecológicamente similares podría explicarse por tres situaciones biogeográficas teniendo en cuenta la competencia y el ambiente en el que interaccionan: (1) la coexistencia simpátrica, cuando la alta abundancia de recursos en un área claramente favorable minimiza los efectos de la competencia, (2) la segregación autoecológica, cuando la presión de un ambiente desfavorable tiene más peso que las interacciones biológicas, y (3) la segregación sinecológica, cuando en áreas de favorabilidad intermedia una especie desplaza por exclusión competitiva a la otra. El objetivo de este estudio es explicar la distribución parapátrica de las tres especies del género Vipera en la Península Ibérica.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

First helminthological data on the Iberian adder, Vipera seoanei.

The helminth fauna present in the gut contents of Iberian adders, Vipera seoanei (Squamata: Viperidae), were characterised and analysed in respect to biological and eco-geographic factors that may affect the occurrence and diversity of helminths in this species. A total of 317 samples of preserved stomachs and intestines, covering the distributional range of V. seoanei, were examined. Similar to other Vipera species from the Iberian Peninsula, the helminth fauna was also impoverished in V. seoanei, but unlike other Vipera species from Central and East Europe, helminths were mostly found in adult vipers, and occurred in vipers located at the periphery of the species range, characterised by low elevation, high temperature and precipitation levels, and abundant pastures

One Size Fits All—Venomics of the Iberian Adder (Vipera seoanei, Lataste 1878) reveals low levels of venom variation across its distributional range

European vipers (genus Vipera) are medically important snakes displaying considerable venom variation, occurring at different levels in this group. The presence of intraspecific venom variation, however, remains understudied in several Vipera species. Vipera seoanei is a venomous snake endemic to the northern Iberian Peninsula and south-western France, presenting notable phenotypic variation and inhabiting several diverse habitats across its range. We analysed the venoms of 49 adult specimens of V. seoanei from 20 localities across the species’ Iberian distribution. We used a pool of all individual venoms to generate a V. seoanei venom reference proteome, produced SDS-PAGE profiles of all venom samples, and visualised patterns of variation using NMDS. By applying linear regression, we then assessed presence and nature of venom variation between localities, and investigated the effect of 14 predictors (biological, eco-geographic, genetic) on its occurrence. The venom comprised at least 12 different toxin families, of which five (i.e., PLA2, svSP, DI, snaclec, svMP) accounted for about 75% of the whole proteome. The comparative analyses of the SDS-PAGE venom profiles showed them to be remarkably similar across the sampled localities, suggesting low geographic variability. The regression analyses suggested significant effects of biological and habitat predictors on the little variation we detected across the analysed V. seoanei venoms. Other factors were also significantly associated with the presence/absence of individual bands in the SDS-PAGE profiles. The low levels of venom variability we detected within V. seoanei might be the result of a recent population expansion, or of processes other than directional positive selection

BioExtreme workshop, O Rosal (Galicia, España), verano 2018

La concentración de gases de efecto invernadero en la atmósfera aumenta anualmente debido, principalmente, al uso generalizado de combustibles fósiles como fuente de energía. Este incremento está detrás de una serie de cambios a nivel planetario en parámetros tan importantes como el clima (ej. cambios en el rango de temperaturas y precipitaciones globales) o los niveles de salinidad y pH de los océanos, con importantes implicaciones para la biodiversidad. Existe también un aumento en la disponibilidad de bases de datos y modelos climáticos (ej. MERRAClim, WorldClim, CHELSA, ENVIREM, CliMond, AquaMaps, Bio-ORACLE) que sirven para estimar futuros escenarios de cambio climático y escenarios del pasado reciente, como el último máximo glaciar o el Holoceno medio (ej. ecoClimate, PaleoClim, etc.). Estos modelos suelen proporcionar valores medios de temperatura (ej. temperatura media anual, temperatura media del trimestre más frío o más cálido, etc.) y valores agregados de precipitación (ej. precipitación anual, precipitación del trimestre más seco o más húmedo, etc.). Tradicionalmente, la mayoría de los estudios científicos enfocados en entender los efectos del cambio climático sobre los ecosistemas han utilizado este tipo de variables. Sin embargo, cada vez es más patente que otro tipo de parámetros del clima, como valores extremos de temperatura o precipitación, pueden afectar de manera importante a las especies y sus hábitats. El pasado verano se organizó en O Rosal (Galicia, España) (Fig.1) un workshop interdisciplinar al que acudieron especialistas en biogeografía, macroecología, herpetología, mastozoología, ecología del suelo y oceanografía con el objetivo de discutir sobre qué tipos de extremos climáticos pueden tener una mayor influencia en el funcionamiento de los ecosistemas y la distribución de los organismos. Como resultado de esta reunión se seleccionaron un conjunto de variables climáticas altamente relevantes a nivel ecológico tanto para el medio marino como para el medio terrestre, y las cuales tienen en cuenta la intensidad y duración de los eventos climáticos extremos

Mountain farmland protection and fire-smart management jointly reduce fire hazard and enhance biodiversity and carbon sequestration

The environmental and socio-economic impacts of wildfires are foreseen to increase across southern Europe over the next decades regardless of increasing resources allocated for fire suppression. This study aims to identify fire-smart management strategies that promote wildfire hazard reduction, climate regulation ecosystem service and biodiversity conservation. Here we simulate fire-landscape dynamics, carbon sequestration and species distribution (116 vertebrates) in the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve Gerês-Xurés (NW Iberia). We envisage 11 scenarios resulting from different management strategies following four storylines: Business-as-usual (BAU), expansion of High Nature Value farmlands (HNVf), Fire-Smart forest management, and HNVf plus Fire-Smart. Fire-landscape simulations reveal an increase of up to 25% of annual burned area. HNVf areas may counterbalance this increasing fire impact, especially when combined with fire-smart strategies (reductions of up to 50% between 2031 and 2050). The Fire-Smart and BAU scenarios attain the highest estimates for total carbon sequestered. A decrease in habitat suitability (around 18%) since 1990 is predicted for species of conservation concern under the BAU scenario, while HNVf would support the best outcomes in terms of conservation. Our study highlights the benefits of integrating fire hazard control, ecosystem service supply and biodiversity conservation to inform better decision-making in mountain landscapes of Southern Europe.This research work was funded by national funds through the FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the FirESmart project (PCIF/MOG/0083/2017) and the project INMODES (CGL2017- 89999-C2-2-R) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. A.R. was funded by the Xunta de Galicia (postdoctoral fellowship ED481B2016/084-0) and IACOBUS program (INTERREG VA España – Portugal, POCTEP 2014-2020). J.D. and A.R. thanks the support of Xunta de Galicia ED431B 2018/36. Â. Sil received support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through Ph.D. Grant SFRH/BD/132838/2017, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and by the European Social Fund - Operational Program Human Capital within the 2014- 2020 EU Strategic Framework. FM-F has a contract from FCT (ref. DL57/2016/CP1440/CT0010). We thank to Adrián Lamosa Torres, Xosé Pardavila and Alberto Gil for their help during fieldwork in Xurés and Rafael Vázquez for providing additional data for amphibians and reptiles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Parapatric species and the use of fuzzy logic to study biotic interactions: a case study on vipers in the Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula is inhabited by three viper species (genus Vipera) that show parapatric distributions: the Euro-Siberian V. seoanei in the North, and the two Mediterranean, V. aspis in the North-east, and V. latastei in most of Iberia. Environmental factors have strong influence in their distribution; however, interactions between species may be also an important driver of species distributions at contact zones. The aim of this work is to identify the favourability of the Iberian Peninsula for the three vipers, giving special importance to those regions simultaneously high favourable for two or the three species (coexistence), simultaneously unfavourable for them (autoecologic segregation), and also those areas where one of the vipers has high favourability whereas the other has intermediate values (likely caused by competition). The favourability models were built under the fuzzy logic as this method may help to understand the species’ relationship taking into account coexistence and competition processes. We used a presence/absence dataset in UTM 10x10km grid cells and a set of spatial and environmental variables (topographic, climatic, human activity and land uses) to develop models of current favorability for the three species. Then we used fuzzy logic to compare species-specific favourabilities with the shared two by two favourabilities. The results suggested that the environment has a strong predictive power in the distribution of the vipers, but the potential interactions between them may be also decisive for their presence or absence in specific areas of the Iberian Peninsula. It is remarkable that V. aspis and V. seoanei seemed better competitors than V. latastei, probably as they were better adapted to northern humid conditions. Although we identified some areas of coexistence, the contact zones are exclusion areas where one species may affect the others. More research is necessary to understand these parapatric distributions by including interactions with other snakes and their prey, as well as their potential evolution under the present-future situation of climate change.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Venomous Animals in the Portuguese Territory: Clinical Management of Bites and Stings

There are many native species of animals with the potential to cause severe disease in Portugal. Of the four clinically relevant snake species, the vipers (Vipera latastei and Vipera seoanei) are the most concerning. They can cause severe disease and require in-hospital management, monitoring and specific treatment, including the administration of anti-snake venom serum. The Malpolon monspessulanus and Macroprotodon brevis snakes cause mostly localized clinical manifestations, which do not require specific treatment. Only a minority of the spider species in Portugal possess chelicerae (mouthparts of the Chelicerata, shaped as either articulated fangs or pincers, which may contain venom or be connected to the venom glands and are used for predation or capture of food) long enough to perforate the human skin. Nevertheless, Latrodectus tredecimguttatus and Loxosceles rufescens spider bites may require specialized treatment in a hospital setting, as well as careful active symptom surveillance. Diversely, the treatment for Scolopendra cingulata and Scolopendra oraniensis centipedes' bites is merely symptomatic. The only existing scorpion species in Portugal is the Buthus ibericus; its sting typically causes local symptoms with intense pain, and its treatment consists essentially of analgesia. The insects of the Hymenoptera order, such as bees and wasps, have the ability to inject venom into the skin. Most people present only with local or regional inflammatory response, and symptomatic treatment is usually effective. Even so, individuals with hypersensitivity to bee venom may develop anaphylaxis. Several marine species in the Portuguese coast are venomous to humans, including weeverfish (Trachinidae family), stingrays (Dasyatis pastinaca, Taeniura grabata, Myliobatis aquila), red scorpion fish (Scorpaena scrofa), cnidaria (Pelagia noctiluca, Chrysaora hysoscella, Physalia physalis) and bearded fireworm (Hermodice carunculata); treatment is symptomatic. Contact with the larvae or bristles (chitinous structures with locomotor or tactile functions) of Thaumetopoea pityocampa (pine processionary) can cause cutaneous, ocular and, rarely, respiratory reactions; its management is also symptomatic.Em território português, existem várias espécies autóctones de animais capazes de provocar envenenamento e doença clinicamente significativa, com potencial de gravidade. Das quatro espécies de serpentes com relevância clínica, as víboras (Vipera latastei e Vipera seoanei) são as mais preocupantes; podem causar doença grave e necessitam de abordagem hospitalar, monitorização e tratamento específico, incluindo soro antiveneno. As serpentes Malpolon monspessulanus e Macroprotodon brevis causam maioritariamente manifestações clínicas locais, sem tratamento específico. Apenas uma minoria das espécies de aranha presentes em Portugal possui quelíceras (apêndices bucais dos Chelicerata, em forma de tenaz ou gancho, que podem conter veneno ou encontrar-se ligados às glândulas venenosas, usados para predação ou captura de alimentos) suficientemente compridas para perfurar a pele humana, mas as picadas de Latrodectus tredecimguttatus e Loxosceles rufescens podem implicar tratamento diferenciado em ambiente hospitalar, com necessidade de vigilância ativa. O tratamento da picada das centopeias Scolopendra cingulata e Scolopendra oraniensis é sintomático. A única espécie de escorpião presente em território nacional, Buthus ibericus, causa geralmente sintomas locais com dor intensa; o tratamento habitualmente baseia-se apenas na administração de analgesia. Os insetos da ordem Hymenoptera, como as abelhas e vespas, possuem capacidade de libertar veneno através de picadas; a maior parte dos indivíduos apresenta apenas reações inflamatórias locais ou regionais, para as quais a aplicação de medidas sintomáticas é suficiente, mas indivíduos que apresentem hipersensibilidade ao veneno podem desenvolver reações anafiláticas. Na costa portuguesa e em águas pouco profundas, encontram-se várias espécies marinhas venenosas para os humanos, como Echiichthys vipera (peixe-aranha comum), Dasyatis pastinaca, Taeniura grabata e Myliobatis aquila (ratões), Scorpaena scrofa (rascasso-vermelho), Pelagia noctiluca, Chrysaora hysoscella e Physalia physalis (cnidários) e Hermodice carunculata (verme-do-fogo), cujas picadas necessitam apenas de tratamento sintomático. O contacto com as larvas ou cerdas (estruturas quitinosas com funções locomotoras ou tácteis) de Thaumetopoea pityocampa (lagarta-do-pinheiro) pode provocar reações cutâneas, oculares e, raramente, respiratórias; a sua abordagem também é sintomática.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio